Chapter 17

Jeremy

A few days after making love to my girl, I sat in my office, staring at the picture of Laila and Austin. I wanted to get her blessing on Bailey, but it was stupid. She'd have given it no doubt, but me wanting it felt silly or contrite. I put the picture in a drawer of my desk, though it hurt to do it.

I had to start moving on. Bailey was partially the key to that, but the majority of the strength had to come from somewhere inside of me. It had felt impossible up to that point, but holding Bailey in my arms all night earlier in the week and hearing her whisper my name in the dark pushed me toward healing.

To be loved again. To be needed. It's all I wanted, but it had to be the right woman, and thankfully I felt like I'd found her.

The fire alarm at the station caused me to jump to my feet as it pulled me from my thoughts. My heart raced as I jogged toward the pole and started to yell out orders. As the Captain, I shouldn't have been going anywhere near the flames, but we were still short staffed as most of the guys were volunteers at the station anyway.

"Fuck," I growled as I realized we were going in one short.

"It's going to be alright, Cap." Mayhem jogged past me and started to shout out orders to the guys.

I nodded and pursed my lips. Every inch of me wanted to take command, to make my orders the ones that were heard, but once again, I moved into second place. We'd be fully staffed soon, and having the guys not pay attention to Mayhem would be... well, mayhem.

I smirked at the joke and got dressed with efficiency. We were all in the truck and headed to the fire within minutes.

"Update," I barked and sat down.

"Structure fire, Cap." Mayhem gripped his hands together and glanced down.

Something was wrong. "Keep going, John."

He glanced up with a bit of terror in his eyes as I called him by his real name. "It's collapsing, and several people have perished, Sir. Two kids and three adults."

I nodded and held his stare. "We're going to get the rest out. Be smart. Be safe."

He swallowed and stood back up before barking orders at everyone like he was pissed at the whole crew. He was scared. We all were when lives were at stake. It was fine to fight a fire and only have to worry about our own lives, but to have to worry about people in the burning building was a whole new level of fear.

We pulled up and the guys hustled off. I jogged down the stairs right behind them and moved over to the hydrant.

"Hose!" I yelled and got down on my knees. Memories flooded me as I knelt there waiting. The blaze before me warmed my face and forced me to look up.

My life had been a mosaic of broken moments, but maybe everyone's was. From losing part of my sight on vacation in the Air Force to being given medical leave and having to walk away from my dream to losing Laila.

The guys pulled the hose my way, and I moved quickly as I let myself move through the pinpoints of pain and joy.

My acceptance into the Air Force and Rhys right beside me. Happy as fuck.

My wedding day.

Austin being born.

Thanksgiving. The resurrection of hope to a broken soul. My soul.

"Done." I bolted up and raced toward the front of the group standing around. "Back up. All the way across the street. Now!" I moved civilians back and helped several with their stuff as the guys started fighting the fire.

"My son! Please! He's in there!!" A woman grabbed the front of my uniform, crying and screaming.

"Where. Point to where." I turned toward the building.

"Up there. Fifth floor. I thought he was behind us, but he must have gone back for something."

"How old is he?" I moved toward the building as she called after me.

"He's eight!"

"We got a little boy. Eight years old up that way on floor five. I'm going in." I pulled my mask down and grabbed a few things. Mayhem moved up next to me and nodded, acknowledging that he would follow my lead.

We moved into the building and carefully made our way to the fifth floor as fire licked at us from all sides. Sweat dripped down my face and clouded my vision a little. The dark smoke rolling off the burning building made it hard as hell to see anything.

Mayhem tapped my shoulder and moved past me before getting down on the ground. He was going into the apartment to check for the child.

I nodded and squatted down. Turning in a full circle, a cold chill ran down my back. Something was off. I could feel it with every cell in my body.

Moving toward the apartment behind me, I crawled half on my belly while trying to hold the damn equipment I had with me. I knew better than to bring anything that I had to carry, and yet... I'd done just that.

"Help!" The sound of a little scream caused me to move faster. Why the hell was the kid in another apartment?

A moment later, I spotted him in the corner of the kitchen in the apartment across the hall from the one his mother mentioned. He was curled up with a little puppy yapping and trying to get out of his arms.

"Hey, buddy." I pulled up my mask and gave him a warm smile. "We were looking for you."

"Miss Terry's puppy was crying behind the door. I heard him so-"

"Let's get you out of here, and you can explain." I reached out and pulled him into my arms. "Hold onto the puppy tightly, okay?"

"Yes, Sir." He buried his face against my chest and started to cry.

I hustled him out of the building, running as fast as I could. The little guy was going to have to go to the hospital because of smoke inhalation, but he would be safe.

"Oh, God. Thank you so much." His mother ran toward us, taking him out of my arms. He was small for eight, but it was a good thing for the situation.

I pulled my helmet off and smiled down at him. "You were brave, but if you're ever in this situation again, you need to get out of the building, okay?"

"Thank you again." The mom gripped my arm and gave me a teary smile.

"No problem." I turned and jogged back toward the building. "Where is Mayhem?" I glanced around.

"I don't know." One of the younger guys pulled his mask off and started to yell for John.

"Fuck." I moved around and realized that he wasn't there. "I'm going back in."

I made my way back into the building, the heat almost unbearable. The sound of the structure falling around me only caused me to move faster. I made it to the fifth floor and pulled my mask up.

"John! Where are you, buddy?" I moved toward the apartment he originally went into while trying to watch my step.

"Here. I'm in here, Cap!"

I moved carefully into the room to see his leg stuck in the floor. He was yanking at it with what looked like all of his might.

"Dammit." I raced over and knelt down to pull at the board around him. One cracked, and he fell back and landed on his ass. "No. Let's go. No time for resting. This fucker is about to collapse around us."

"I'm behind you." He got up and moved toward the door.

I pushed at his back, making him go first. "Stick to the edges. Go."

We moved forward until we were back out in the grass. He surprised me by turning around and picking me up in a big bear hug.

"You saved my life." He squeezed me tightly and laughed.

"Get busy putting this fire out," I barked and patted his chest. "Thank me later with a beer."

"Fuck yes." He moved toward the fire with the other guys, hoses in hand to take the beast down.

Gratefulness swam through me, and two people came to mind that I wanted to see.

My little guy, and my girl.